


Falling Stars

by tattoosanta



Category: Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball
Genre: Alternate Universe, Kuroko no Basket Big Bang, M/M, Star Child AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-10-15
Updated: 2016-10-17
Packaged: 2018-08-22 14:04:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,770
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8288377
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tattoosanta/pseuds/tattoosanta
Summary: Shintarou had just been taking a morning walk when he stumbled across a strange man sleeping in the woods.





	1. The Man in the Woods

**Author's Note:**

> My piece for the Kuroko no Big Bang on tumblr~   
> I'm not quite finished yet, but I'm hoping having an every other day chapter release schedule will push me to finish these chapters and get it finished for my artist~

He found him sleeping on his side in the grass clearing in the woods while on his morning walk. He was dressed very strangely for it being the 21st century; and, as the sunlight caught his hair through the rustling leaves, it seemed to shimmer. 

“What an odd man,” he thought to himself as he approached the redhead slowly, “perhaps I should wake him up.” 

He looked around the area a little bit nervously. Was this man alone, or was someone looking for him? He almost hoped for the latter, but it didn’t look like anyone was going to be coming by soon looking for him. So he bent down and gently shook the redhead’s shoulder. 

His skin was frigid, and it made Shintarou recoil just slightly; but slowly, the young man opened his eyes. 

“Mm… where am I?” He groaned quietly and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. He pushed himself up off the ground and squinted in the bright sunlight. “Where is this…?” Maybe it was just the convenience of the location, but it sounded like his voice had an echo to it. 

“You’re in the woods outside of Tokyo.” Shintarou sighed a little bit and sat down. “Did you not realize this when you fell asleep?” Did this guy have amnesia? And why was his skin shining like he had been sweating a lot? 

“Tokyo…?” The redhead frowned a little bit. Now that his eyes had adjusted to the brightness, he opened them fully and blinked a few times. “Where is Tokyo?” 

Shintarou was about to answer, but his words caught in his throat when he saw the other man’s eyes. He might have been mistaken, but he swore he saw the shapes of constellations in the… blacks of his eyes. 

“U-Uhm… well, it’s in Japan.” He cleared his throat finally. “It’s the capital.” How did this guy seriously not know where Tokyo was? He spoke Japanese. Maybe he really did have amnesia. “Are you lost?” 

“Am I?” The redhead asked. “I don’t know.” He looked around a little bit and frowned at the scenery. “This doesn’t look like home…” That was worrying. How would he get back? Why did he feel so weird? Who was this guy? “...And who are you?” 

Shintarou wanted to ask so many questions, but the look he was getting said he better introduce himself. “I’m Midorima Shintarou. Who are you?” 

“Ah…” The redhead stopped for a minute. He didn’t have a name like that. Actually, he didn’t have a name at all. He’d never really had the need for a name before. “I don’t have a name.” Was that weird? 

Shintarou blinked in surprise and looked at him curiously. “What do you mean you don’t have a name?” This guy was just so strange… “Where are you from?” 

“Oh, I… think I must have had a collision with someone else…” The redhead frowned a little bit. “But I am from Regulus, in Leo. The other person must be from Alphecca.” 

_ This man is insane, _ Shintarou thought to himself as a frown formed on his face,  _ those are stars…  _ There was no way this guy was serious, right? Even if he looked like he had total confidence in what he was saying, he was probably just being facetious. 

“I… don’t think there are any cities with those names around here.” He said finally with a shake of his head. “Are you sure you’re not from a neighboring city? Maybe Shinagawa or Shibuya?” 

The man just frowned at him and shook his head. “No, I already told you where I’m from.” He seemed pretty sure of himself, to say the least. “Did you not hear me?” 

“No, I heard you…” Shintarou sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. What kind of weirdo was this guy? He was probably wearing contacts to make the whites of his eyes look that way, his clothing looked like a cloak from Ancient Greece, his hair and body looked like glitter had been dropped all over it, and his voice echoed when he spoke. Either he was a really good actor, or those myths weren’t so far-fetched after all. 

He sighed and rubbed his neck. “Well… let me start off by saying you’re on Earth, in the country of Japan in 2016.” That wouldn’t be too much information all at the same time, he thought. It was a good way to determine, anyway. 

Apparently, it seemed to be the worst thing to have said, as the redhead jumped up, panic in his eyes. “This is  _ Earth _ ?!” 

“Um… yes, it is.” Shintarou nodded and stood slowly, his hands out defensively. “Is there something wrong with that?” He didn’t think there was. Earth was the only known life-sustaining planet in the galaxy. 

“Yes, there is!” The redhead snapped his head up to look at Shintarou. “Everything is wrong with that! I can’t be on Earth!” No wonder he was so disoriented. He’d somehow fallen, collided with someone else, and ended up on Earth. “I have to go home…” 

Shintarou frowned a little bit. “Slow down… what do you mean you have to go home?” Didn’t he live on Earth? 

“I do not live here!” The redhead snapped, though his hands were starting to shake. “I thought I made that clear! I’m not supposed to be on Earth, I have to find a way to go home…If I don’t, I’ll be stuck here forever.” And it was becoming increasingly obvious he had no idea how to act like a normal human. 

Shintarou sighed and rubbed his neck. “Calm down, please…” He still didn’t understand what this man’s home was, and why he didn’t have a name, but he guessed he would have to figure that out later. There was no way in hell he was going to leave him alone at this point, though. “Why don’t you come with me, and we’ll figure this out together?” 

The shorter man stopped for a moment and stared up at Shintarou, his--still very freaky--eyes wide. “What do you mean by ‘come with you’? How far away is your home?”

“It’s in the residential district, about a mile and a half away.” Shintarou shrugged. “It’ll only take us about half an hour to get there, assuming you can keep up with my walking pace.” Which, he had to guess, would be a no. 

The redhead nodded slowly. “Well… I suppose, if you live so close to this place, I could go with you.” He started walking after Shintarou, nearly having to jog to keep up with him. “What do you want me to call you?” 

“Just Midorima is fine for now.” Shintarou said. “But you need a name if you’re going to be around people, you know.” 

The redhead frowned. “Why do I need a name? There’s nothing wrong with not having one.” He crossed his arms and looked up at Shintarou, his eyes narrowing slightly. “There can’t be that many others in the same space.” 

“You’d be surprised.” Shintarou sighed. “Just… why don’t you let me give you a name? If you don’t like it, you don’t have to use it, but people will ask you to identify yourself somehow; they won’t be happy if they can’t call you by something.” 

“...Well, fine then.” The man nodded slowly. “I suppose you can give me a name.” He wasn’t going to use it, though. Nope. 

Shintarou bit his lip and looked over at the redhead. What would be suitable for someone like him? His hair was red, as were his eyes, so maybe he could build the last name around that… He would have to come up with a first name on the fly. 

“...Akashi Seijuurou.” He said finally. That would have to do. He had always liked the meaning of the name Seijuurou anyway--perfect subjugation. “That will be your name while you live here, alright?”

Seijuurou frowned a little bit, as if he were deep in thought. “Why do I have two names? That doesn’t make any sense.” This whole naming thing wasn’t going over very well with him, was it? “Which one will you refer to me with?” 

“I’ll call you by the last name, Akashi.” Shintarou said after a short while. “And before you ask what the point of the other name is, it’s for people you’re very close to, and have gotten to know well.” Did that make sense? He hoped so. 

“Well, I know you.” Seijuurou stated. “Or do I not know you well enough?” That didn’t make sense. “This is confusing, I don’t like it.” 

Shintarou chuckled softly at that and shook his head. “You’ll get used to it, I’m sure. Just let all the new information settle in first.” Now he had some questions of his own to ask. That was… if Seijuurou would stop for two seconds to let him ask them. 

Seijuurou sighed a little bit. “...I don’t think I want to get used to it. I want to go home.” He already missed his home very much, and it didn’t help that the star shining overhead was blocking out the view of it. 

“Well…” Shintarou sighed, “I hate to be rude, but what exactly  _ are  _ you, if you’re not from here?” He wanted to just say alien, and it would definitely fit; but at the same time, there might be a different name for these creatures. And he swore he had read myths about people who looked just like Seijuurou before. 

“Oh, I don’t know if there is a name for us here, but…” Seijuurou shrugged a little bit, almost imitating Shintarou, “I was born when my home star was created.” 

So Shintarou’s hunch had been correct, and these myths about starchildren were true. “So in other words, you’re a starchild?” He paused and looked over to Seijuurou fleetingly, who was just staring at him in confusion. His eyes still freaked him out, and he doubted he would ever get used to that. “That’s the word we have for your people.” 

“Then I suppose I am.” Seijuurou nodded a little bit. “If that is what you on Earth call us.” What a pretty name for it. “Your people are very poetic, Midorima.” 

Shintarou smiled just slightly. “Well, yes, I suppose we are.” 


	2. Home

The walk, though slow, was not particularly difficult. Shintarou spent most of the time trying to convince himself he wasn’t doing what he thought he was doing as he answered all of Seijuurou’s questions; all the while avoiding his eyes. 

It wasn’t as though Seijuurou had done anything to make him want to avoid eye contact; in fact, the man himself had done nothing at all. It was what he contained in his eyes that disturbed Shintarou. Where the whites should be, as he had noticed before, were black and speckled with dots resembling two constellations. 

The constellation hidden in Seijuurou’s left eye was the Corona Borealis; and in the right, Leo the Lion. His irises were quite similar to Shintarou’s own, though they seemed to glow faintly; but it wasn’t really either of those things that bothered him. No, it was the black holes where his pupils should be, bending the “light” of the irises at the event horizons and giving him almost a soulless look. 

Needless to say, Shintarou decided avoiding eye contact until he got used to that-- _ if  _ he got used to that--was a good idea. At the very least, he could pretend those black holes didn’t exist. 

Or, he could  _ try  _ to pretend those black holes didn’t exist. It didn’t exactly work when Seijuurou had blocked the path in front of him and was staring up at him with something akin to frustration settling on his pale face. 

“Is there a reason you refuse to look at me?” He asked. When Shintarou didn’t reply, he tilted his head a little bit. “Midorima?” 

“...It’s nothing.” Shintarou shook his head and put a hand on Seijuurou’s shoulder to turn him and keep him moving forward. “We just need to get to my house now.”

Seijuurou frowned a little bit, but he decided to let it drop. There was no use arguing when he couldn’t think of a reason why they should be arguing in the first place. Instead, he wanted to ask other questions. 

“What does a house do?” He had never heard that word before, and though it didn’t seem like it was going to be a big deal at first, he was incredibly curious. 

“It’s where I live.” Shintarou started. “Unlike you, I can’t just live off the sun. I need to have some sort of shelter with a roof on it.” 

Seijuurou frowned a little bit. “Do you not get your energy from your star, then?” How odd… he had assumed any other living being would need that energy to survive. Perhaps it was just him, then? “How do you live like that?” 

“I suppose it’s how the human body works.” Shintarou shrugged and turned Seijuurou toward his street carefully. “We are very fragile creatures, and require quite a bit more than one would think.” Now that he thought about it… he was amazed humans had survived so long, needing what they did all the time. 

Seijuurou thought quietly for a moment, then nodded. “I see.” He still seemed confused, but maybe he would get it later. Or he wouldn’t. It didn’t really seem to bother him all too much. 

“You’ll get it figured out.” Shintarou offered a small smile. He paused for a moment to find his keys in his pocket, then stopped. “Akashi, my house is here.” 

“Oh.” Seijuurou turned around and looked up at the house curiously. It was--by his standards--relatively small; though it looked nice. He stepped inside after Shintarou opened the door and looked around just a little bit. “Hm.” 

Shintarou sighed just a little bit and closed the door behind them. “Make yourself at home… I’m going to go grab something from my bedroom.” He paused to take his shoes off, then disappeared down the hall a moment later. 

Seijuurou decided to take that time to explore the living room. It was taking a while for his eyes to adjust to the harsh, unnatural lights inside, but he could still make out what everything looked like. After a while, he ended up just sitting down on the couch and waiting. 

Shintarou came back from his bedroom not too long afterward, a laptop under his arm. “Do you need anything?” Despite already knowing the answer, he felt it was important to ask. “I can get you water or something.” 

“No, I’m fine.” Seijuurou shook his head. “Thank you.” He paused for a moment, his attention shifting to what Shintarou was holding. “What is that?” 

“Oh, this? It’s a personal computer.” Shintarou shrugged just a bit and went to sit down in the chair nearest the couch. “It’s difficult to explain if you don’t know what a computer is. Just know we use it as a tool in our day to day lives here.” 

Seijuurou frowned, displeased with the answer, but nodded anyway. “Alright.” He supposed he would figure things out later. At least… that’s what he hoped would happen. He didn’t particularly enjoy being in the dark on everything, ironically enough. 

Shintarou just nodded and opened his browser.  He wanted to do a little bit of research, just to see if there was any information he might have forgotten from the last time he had heard the legends of starchildren in depth. Maybe he could find a way to help Seijuurou get home in the process. 

“So... “ he cleared his throat as he scrolled through a scholar’s article, “how are you adjusting to our atmosphere?” 

“It’s… warm here.” Seijuurou shrugged. “I’m not sure I like it.” He was so much more used to the cold, anyway. As if adjusting to Earth weren’t hard enough, now he was having a hard time regulating his temperature. 

“Would you like me to turn on the air conditioning? It will cool you down.” Shintarou glanced up for a moment. Seijuurou didn’t  _ look  _ warm, but he couldn’t say anything about that. He also looked like a normal person until, well… 

Seijuurou didn’t really respond, so he turned back to his reading. There was a lot of interesting information there… and some information he would’ve preferred not to have learned. He didn’t know how true the myths were, but if starchildren were as dangerous as this article was making them out to be… he needed to find a way to get Seijuurou home as soon as he possibly could.


End file.
